Rating: 
Summary: A ghost -like creeper without the ghosts
Review: "Cold Case" by Linda Barnes is enjoyable from start to finish.The poems of a murdered writer surfaces 24 years after her death.Recent poems. Private I,Carlotta doesn't know if they're frauds or genuine.She only knows that the poems reveal more than writer's family wants her and the public to know.Things such as the truth behind a seemingly solved case,and secret alliances between politicians and members of the Boston PD. The role of the murdered,child writer makes this novel border on the paranormal.It gets very eerie without getting "out there."I give it a 10 for suspense. -Joe
Rating: 
Summary: I like Linda Barnes and her PI Carlotta
Review: Above and beyond most of Sue Graftons. More like Sara Paretsky than anybody else.I've read almost all Linda Barnes Carlotta books and recommend them if you enjoy female P.I.s.
Rating:
Summary: not one of her best
Review: Although I enjoyed the book, I don't feel it was one of her better efforts. I didn't find the story line that appealing or exciting but I like reading stories about the Boston area and the like Carlotta a lot !
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Girl
Review: Having worked with numerous investigators over the past 16 years, I am sure I would have lost my license to practice law if Carlotta was working on my cases. I don't expect mysteries to be "true", but at least they should not border on science fiction. I was tempted to start a count of how many criminal laws the ex cop turned investigator broke but gave up. Don't even mention ethics. I know that lawyers, especially criminal defense lawyers, are supposed to be the slime of the earth. Maybe so, but Carlotta was way slimier than any attorney I have ever known.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Girl
Review: Having worked with numerous investigators over the past 16 years, I am sure I would have lost my license to practice law if Carlotta was working on my cases. I don't expect mysteries to be "true", but at least they should not border on science fiction. I was tempted to start a count of how many criminal laws the ex cop turned investigator broke but gave up. Don't even mention ethics. I know that lawyers, especially criminal defense lawyers, are supposed to be the slime of the earth. Maybe so, but Carlotta was way slimier than any attorney I have ever known.
Rating:
Summary: Linda Barnes is one of my favorite writers
Review: I love all of Linda Barnes' books about Carlotta Carlyle and this one was no exception, but it was not my favorite. I thought it was very interesting and it keep my interest, but I didn't want to sit down and read it in one sitting like some of her other books. It was still a very entertaining and remarkable book and I would highly recommend it to anyone
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh...bad topic, convoluted plot, bad language...
Review: I really like to read mysteries. And I've read a lot of them over the years. I like them well-written, and I like the plots to make sense, and the mysteries to be plausible. I've read BArnes before and have enjoyed some of her work. But I really did not like this book! About the only good thing I can say about it, is I had no idea where she was going (in spite of background in neuroscience/psychiatry). As she kept mentioning 'recovered memories' that should have clued me in to the horrible conclusion, but for some reason there was not enough information given in the poetry of the person Carlotta was looking for, or the background of the family. Yeah, it deals with a topic that makes me very uncomfortable, even though I realize that in reality this type of family situation happens more often then we know. It's just I don't find this stuff even remotely entertaining or interesting....ugh. And the language of Barnes' books are getting more and more rough. I realize she is supposed to be writing about a hard-boiled woman detective, but it is more than I can stand! Karen Sadler
Rating:
Summary: Well constructed mystery
Review: I surprised that this mystery did not make People Magazine's "Page Turner of the Week." I couldn't put it down. Linda Barnes reoccuring characters are well constructed. Here books don't take reading and re-reading the first few chapters several times to jump right into the reading journey. If this book were food, it might not be filet but it certainly is warm oatmeal on a cold, rainy day.
Rating:
Summary: Well constructed mystery
Review: I surprised that this mystery did not make People Magazine's "Page Turner of the Week." I couldn't put it down. Linda Barnes reoccuring characters are well constructed. Here books don't take reading and re-reading the first few chapters several times to jump right into the reading journey. If this book were food, it might not be filet but it certainly is warm oatmeal on a cold, rainy day.
Rating:
Summary: a real disapointment
Review: I was very disapointed with this book. It came highly recommended. I loved Ms. Barnes' other books. This one was a bore!
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